Device for manipulating coupling-pins.



F. MATHEWS.

DEVICE roa MANIPULATING COUPLING PINS.

APPLICATION FILED 00127, 1912.

1,084,649. Patented Jan. 20, 1914,

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. like UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

FRED ma'rnnwsor CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CLINTON c. MURPHY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DEVICE FOR MANIPULATING COUPLING-PINS.

Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

To all whom'z't may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED MATHEWS, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in'the county of Cool: and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Manipulating Coupler-Pins, ofvwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for manipulating the locking pins of railway car couplings, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a device of this sort which will have suflicient flexibility or capacity for self adjustment to enable the device to accommodate itself to the shifting movements of the coupling, both transverse andlongitudinal with respect to the car, so that it will not be broken, bent or strained, or the pin accidentally raised by such movemerits-of the coupling, I

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which will. be extremely simpleand economical in construction, and which may be operated from a position at one side of the car and. by a movement in the direction away from the car; the purpose of the latter features being to prevent or minimize the injuries which trainmen frequently suffer in un coupling railway cars. The invention consists in certain simple but .novel arrangements for carrying out the objects above stated.

The invention is illustrated, in a preferred embodiment, in the accompanying drawing Figure l is a fragmentary end elevation of a railway car with the device of my .invention attached thereto, Fig. 2-, a sectional plan taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, Fig. .3, a view, in perspective, of the rocking device-by the movement of which the pin is raised, and Fig. 4, a sectional plan taken on line 4.4 of Fig. l.

Like characters of reference designate parts in the several figures of the drawmg.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates the end of a railway car and'll a coupler of the familiar automatic type provided with the usual locking pin 12.

The device for raising} the locking pin consists of a rocking member or hell crank 13 and an operating or pull rod 14. Preferably these parts are loosely connected by means of loops or, eyes 15,16 which may be formed in any suitable manner. The rocking member is formed with the preferably straight arm or projection 17 which extends through the eye 18 with which the locking pin 12 is provided. The rocking member is formed in any suitable manner with a perforation 19 through which extends the loop eye which is secured to the end of the car. The pin is raised by an outward pull upon and lengthwise movement of the operating rod 14;. The latter is preferably guided in a ring 22 on the end of the car.

It will be seen that the device for manipulating the pin has a floating relation to the car and to the pin which permits the device to accommodate itself to the shifting movements of the coupling bot-h transverse and longitudinal with respect to the car. If the arm I7 is perfectly horizontah as my invention contemplates by preference, in any side shift of the coupler back and forth on the arm. If, however, the arm l7'should stand a trifle oblique to the horizontal, as may well happen for one reason or another, the uncoupling device will accommodate itself to a side shift without pulling the pin because of the capacity of the rocking member to rock transversely .of the car. The rocking member will swing the ring 18 will slide outwardly from the end of the car or in- -wardly toward the same on the ring 20 as the coupler shifts longitudinally. The connections of the operating rod 14' with the rocking member and its guide 22 are loose connections and the rod is not fixed or locked in any manner so that it will follow and accommodate'itself to the movements .of the rocking member.

This device may be made very cheaply and can be readily attached to any sort of railway car. Its capacity for self adjustment to the different shifting'movements of the coupling both longitudinal and transverse, prevent it from being broken, bent or strainedwhen these necessary movements of the coupling take place. The same capacity for self adjust-ment prevents the shifting of the coupler from withdrawing the pin. The locking pin of an automatic coupling has a relatively short movement; from its normal to its unlocking position, and consequently, unless the mechanism for raising the pin can adjust itself to the movements of the coupler, there is danger that such shifting 'ild movementmay raise the pin and so cause the accidental uncoupling of the car. Several of the in manipulating mechanisms which have een heretofore devised have proven unserviceable for this reason. Moreover, when the pin is in the normal or rock-- ing position no part of the uncoupling mechanism projects from the outer edges of the car body either at the side or below the car. The mechanism is manipulated to raise the pin by anoutward pull away from the car instead of the usual crank or lever movement. The trainman does not have to reach between the cars or under either of them.' For these reasons the device insures a greater degree of safety than any ofthe uncoupling-mechanisms ofwhich I am aware.

1., The combination with the locking pin of a car coupling provided with an eye, of an operating rod formed at one end with an eye, a guide on the car-through which said rod extends, a'bellicrank having an arm 1 adapted to extend through the eyevof said coupler pin, an arm formed at its extremity with an eye loosely engaging with the eye on said operating rod, said bell crank being provided at the junction of said arms with and an eye on the end of the car which extends'through said perforation 'pivotallyfconnectmg the bell crank with the car so as to allow ;'movement of the bell crank both transversely ofthe carand to and from the same.

2. A device for manipulating the locking pin of a railwaycar coupling comprising a bell crank, onearm of which is engaged with said locking pin, a pull rod,'movable in the' ingsaid bell crank to raise said direction of its length and on the end of the car, loosely connected to the other arm of said bell crank, said bell crank 'rovided intermediate its ends with a per oration, and an eye on the end-of the car which extends through said perforation pivotally connecting the bell crank with the car so as to allow movement of the bell crank both transversely of the'car and to and from the same. t

3. The combination with the locking pin of a car coupling provided with an eye, of Hi} 9 crating rod, a guide on the car through W 10 said'rod extends, a' bell crank having' an arm adapted to extend through the eye of said coupler pin, and an arm which is loosely connected with the end of said 0 eratin rod, and means for attaching the 11 cran tothe end of the'car which permits it to rock both transversely of the car and also to and from the end of the same.

4. The combination with the locking pin of a car cou ler, of'a-bell crank engaged with said loc ting pin which is attached to the end of'the car so that it may rockv transversely-of the car and also longitudinally of the same, and-an operating element for rocklocking in which is loosely connected 'with said ll crank and with the car so as. not to hinder said bell crank from rocking on its fulcrum both longitudinally and transversely with the forward and back .and"sidewise movements of the coupler.

FRED MATHEWS.

Witnesses: v

, L. A. FALKENBERG,

G'. Y. SKINNER. 

